Sports
What message does Austin Dillon penalty send to NASCAR drivers?
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Bubba Wallace sat down at the Michigan International Speedway media center desk and smirked.
“Can only imagine what is going to be asked about,” Wallace said.
It was entirely obvious, of course. The topic in the garage Saturday was the same as it has been all week after Austin Dillon wrecked two drivers on the final lap to win at Richmond Raceway: What did people make of NASCAR’s decision to penalize Dillon, and what sort of message does that send?
Wednesday, after a couple of days of deliberation, NASCAR said it would allow Dillon to keep his victory but stripped the playoff eligibility that accompanies a typical win. Dillon went into Turn 4 on the final lap at Richmond and intentionally took out Joey Logano, then swerved and hooked Denny Hamlin into the wall.
Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox.
Sign Up
Drivers largely expressed satisfaction with NASCAR stepping in to make a call on what they viewed as over-the-line racing for the first time in the playoffs era, which began in 2004. Kyle Larson estimated “99 percent of the field” was happy with NASCAR’s decision to enforce a minimum driving standard.
“We have to determine what we’re going to be and how we’re going to be as a sport,” veteran Michael McDowell said. “Are we going to be ‘Boys, have at it’ and do anything you can to win a race and get your team into the playoffs? Or is there going to be sporting conduct and a code that says, ‘We want you to race hard, and we want you to go for it, but there’s a limit’?
“The line was crossed, and NASCAR responded correctly.”
Veteran driver Michael McDowell was pleased with NASCAR’s decision to penalize Austin Dillon. (David Yeazell / USA Today)
For the most part, drivers said the decision wouldn’t change how they raced. Wallace said the frequent boasts about how most of them would “wreck your mother to win” were actually hot air, and in reality “you do everything in your power under the respectful line to win a race.”
To wit, Erik Jones firmly declared: “I don’t race that way. I wouldn’t have done it. … It is really not in my playbook.”
Added Chris Buescher: “I know what I’m here to do, what I’m willing to do and what I’m comfortable with. Whatever the ruling — there may not be the most clarity there if you’re trying to put it on paper, but we understand what’s acceptable.”
On the other hand, some drivers understood why Dillon made his move. McDowell called it a “$3 million lap” in terms of the difference between qualifying for the playoffs and not, which is why Dillon launched his desperate attempt to win.
“If he makes that stick and everything goes good, it’s a big swing for his team and his partners,” McDowell said. “I don’t sit here being like, ‘Oh, that was stupid. That was uncalled for.’ I go, ‘I get it.’ Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, and it just didn’t work.”
But the question remained: Do drivers know where the line is? NASCAR has yet to spell it out, other than to say Dillon was penalized due to the “totality” of his actions.
Hamlin said the line was clear: Cars battling and making contact because of close racing will be deemed OK, but intentionally wrecking the leader to win the race is not.
GO DEEPER
Gluck: Thankfully, NASCAR got Austin Dillon decision right
Still, he added: “Sometimes balls and strikes aren’t totally clear. There is one right on the edge and you have to call it, but it is up to us to make the decision … to put ourselves in that position where it could be called one way or the other.”
The lack of specific reasoning as to why Dillon was penalized prompted Kyle Busch, Dillon’s Richard Childress Racing teammate, to say the rule isn’t clear at all.
“They all want to say we know where the line is; we don’t know where the line is,” Busch said. “Logano flat out wrecked me at Vegas for third place in the exact fashion that (Dillon) knocked him out of the way for a win. That’s why he got punched in the face (in a viral 2017 fight).”
Team Penske’s Austin Cindric said he understood why officials had yet to spell out the specifics — and what actions could stop just short of crossing that line — with an appeal pending from Dillon’s team Wednesday. Cindric said he hoped NASCAR would clarify its decision in the coming weeks.
But there’s a chance that clarity will never come. Brad Keselowski said that while it would be nice for NASCAR to able to spell out the rules for every potential situation in a perfect world, the reality is something new will always pop up and makes it challenging for NASCAR to predict the future.
GO DEEPER
Austin Dillon’s Richmond win won’t count toward NASCAR playoff eligibility
In that regard, Keselowski said officials “made as good of an attempt as you could make to draw a line in the sand.”
“We want them to be proactive and not reactive, but they’re outnumbered significantly by people who are always trying to find new ways to beat systems,” Keselowski said. “And in some cases, they have to be reactive. This is one of those cases, in my mind.”
Ross Chastain has been the poster child for recently exploited loopholes that were closed. He found a shortcut at the Indianapolis road course that drew a penalty because it was too glaring, and his “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville was allowed to stand but later banned for future uses.
Similarly, Chastain said the line after Richmond is “not clear, but I am constantly aware of what I feel like everyone is thinking.”
“You just can’t be too far against the grain, in my opinion,” he said of what causes NASCAR to react.
Chastain and Dillon seemed to suggest Hamlin’s outspokenness may have played a role in the penalty. Dillon said Hamlin displayed “gamesmanship” with his comments on the “Actions Detrimental” podcast and showed the veteran was good at knowing how to work the system.
“He plays the game well, and in the end, this is a game,” Dillon said, politely declining to elaborate on his feelings about the penalty decision. “I’ve got to do the same thing right now with my approach to everything that’s going on. We’re in the middle of the thick of it for that process.”
GO DEEPER
Austin Dillon wins NASCAR Cup Series race after crashing 2 drivers
Chastain was more subtle about NASCAR potentially being influenced by the public discourse.
“We’re listening to people, hearing who is loud and who is the squeaky wheel,” he said. “It looks like they got some grease.”
Dillon wasn’t the only one penalized after Richmond. Logano was fined $50,000 for dangerous actions on pit road when he did a burnout near Dillon’s family and friends who were walking toward the track as cars were returning to the pits.
Logano acknowledged what he did was wrong but said he had full control of his car and was never in danger of running anyone over. He showed restraint considering the circumstances, he added.
“It’s comparable to somebody breaking into your house and taking all your stuff, and a minute and a half later, you see them all celebrating with your stuff in your front yard,” he said. “What would you do?”
(Top photo: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
LeBron James got the last laugh on Sunday night as he sank two free throws in the final 3.9 seconds to lift the Los Angeles Lakers over the Phoenix Suns, 116-114.
James may be in the twilight of his career, but he showed he still had some fight. He was battling with Suns forward Dillon Brooks throughout the night. The two got into multiple skirmishes as the intensity was turned up a notch.
Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks fouls Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. Brooks was ejected from the game after the foul. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
As the game came down to the wire, Brooks hit a clutch 3-pointer to put the Suns up one point with 12.2 seconds left. James ran through him and knocked him down. Brooks got back up and stuck his chest out to ever-so-gently tap James.
A referee came over to stop the conflict from escalating any further. Brooks was ejected from the game.
“I just like to compete,” James said of going up against Brooks, via ESPN. “He’s going to compete. I’m going to compete. We’re going to get up in each other’s face. Try not to go borderline with it. I don’t really take it there. But we’re just competing and did that almost all the way to the end of the game.”
NBA BROADCASTER CALLS FOR SPURS STAR TO CHANGE ‘ALIEN’ NICKNAME: ‘THEY DEPORT THOSE’
Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) and Los Angeles Lakers forward Lebron James (23) react after a turnover during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Suns star Devin Booker supported Brooks’ intensity.
“Yeah, I mean there’s history there,” he said. “I love to see it. People always say everything’s too friendly in the NBA and then Dillon comes around and now it’s too much. So like I said, I’d rather it the other way — that it’d be too much.”
James scored 26 points on 8-of-17 from the field. Luka Doncic led Los Angeles with 29 points and six assists. The Lakers improved to 18-7 with the win.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) looks to shoot over Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, front left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Brooks had 18 points in 25 minutes. Booker led the team with 27 points and was 13-of-16 from the free-throw line. Phoenix is 14-12 on the year.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Who’s going to beat them?
Who’s going to stop the unstoppable offense? Who’s going to score on the persistent defense? Who’s going to outwit the coaching genius?
Who can possibly halt the Rams on their thunderous march toward a Super Bowl championship?
After yet another jaw-dropping Sunday afternoon at a raucous SoFi Stadium, the answer was clear.
Nobody.
Nobody can spar with the Rams. Nobody can run with the Rams. Nobody can compete with the Rams.
-
Share via
Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 41-34 victory over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
Nobody is talented enough or deep enough or smart enough to keep the Rams from winning their second Super Bowl championship in five years.
Nobody. It’s over. It’s done. The Rams are going to win it all, and before you cry jinx, understand that this is just putting into words what many already are thinking.
The Rams’ second-half domination of the Detroit Lions in a 41-34 win should again make the rest of the league realize that nobody else has a chance.
The Seahawks? Please. The 49ers? No way. The Eagles? They’ve been grounded. The Bears? Is that some kind of a joke?
The Patriots? Not yet. The Broncos? Not yet. The Bills? Not ever.
The Rams trailed by 10 points at one juncture Sunday and then blew the Lions’ doors off in the second half to clinch a playoff berth for the seventh time in nine seasons under Sean McVay, setting them up for the easiest ride in sports.
With a win in Seattle on Thursday night — and, yes, they should beat a team that just barely survived Old Man Rivers — the Rams essentially will clinch the NFC’s top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
That means they have to win only two games at SoFi to advance to a Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. That means they can win a championship without leaving California, three games played in the sort of perfect climate that gets the best out of their precision attack.
And as Sunday proved once again, they’re good enough to win three essentially home playoff games against anybody.
“I love this team,” McVay said.
There’s a lot to love.
They have an MVP quarterback, the league’s most versatile two-headed running attack, an interior defense that gets stronger under pressure, and the one weapon that no team can match.
They have Puka Nacua, and nobody else does.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua is tackled by Detroit cornerback Amik Robertson during the second half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Is he unbelievable or what? He is Cooper Kupp in his prime, only faster and stronger. He caught a career-high 181 yards’ worth of passes on yet another day when he could not be covered and barely could be tackled.
“He’s unbelievable,” McVay said. “He’s so tough, a couple of times he just drags guys with him … he epitomizes everything we want to be about … he’s like Pac-Man, he just eats up yards and catches.”
Pac-Man? The Rams even score on their old-school references.
In all, it was another Sunday of totally fun football.
They outscored the league’s highest-scoring team 20-0 at one point, they outrushed the league’s toughest backfield 159-70, they racked up 519 total yards against a team once thought destined for a championship.
And they did it with barely a smile. With the exception of Nacua repeatedly banging his fist to his chest — can you blame him? — the Rams are steady and steadfast and just so scary.
”All we want to do is go to work and find a way to be better,” said Matthew Stafford, who likely answered the crowd’s chants by clinching the MVP award with 368 yards and two touchdown passes. “It’s a fun group right now but we understand there’s more out there for us.”
Lots, lots, lots more.
This year a similar column appeared in this space regarding the Dodgers. By the first round of the playoffs, one just knew that they were going to run the table.
The same feeling exists here. The Rams look unrelenting, unfazed, unbeatable.
“Guys just kept competing, staying in the moment,” McVay said.
This moment belongs to them. One knew it Sunday by the end of the first half, which featured a Stafford interception and a struggling secondary and Jared Goff’s vengeful greatness and a 10-point Lions lead.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford passes in the first half of a 41-34 win over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Then the Rams drove the ball nearly half of the field in 30 seconds in a push featuring Stafford and Nacua at their best. Stafford connected with Nacua on a brilliant 37-yard pass in the final moments that led to a Harrison Mevis 37-yard field goal to close the gap to seven.
“Right before that I told the guys, ‘Let’s go steal three,’” Stafford said.
Turns out, they stole a game.
“One of the key and critical sequences,” McVay said of that late first-half hammer, which led to a dazzling third quarter that finished the flustered Lions.
“We never panic,” Blake Corum said. “Because we know … what we have to bring to the table.”
What they’ve increasingly been bringing is a running attack that perfectly complements the awesome passing attack, as evidenced Sunday by Corum and Kyren Williams combining for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
The Lions’ more vaunted backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery? Seventy yards and one score.
“We push each other to the limit,” Corum said of Williams.
Rams running back Kyren Williams stiff-arms Detroit Lions safety Erick Hallett II during the first half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Potentially disturbing was how one noted Ram may have pushed past his limits, as receiver Davante Adams limped off the field early in the fourth quarter after apparently reinjuring his troublesome hamstring.
To lose him for the playoffs would be devastating, as he frees up space for Nacua and is almost an automatic touchdown from the five-yard line and closer.
Then again he’ll have a month to heal. And the Rams still have a bruising array of tight ends led Sunday by the touchdown-hot Colby Parkinson, who caught 75 yards’ worth of passes and two scores, including one inexplicable touchdown in which he clearly was down at the one-yard line.
The Rams got lucky there. But even if the right call was made, they would have scored on the next couple of plays. The way the Rams attacked, they could have been scoring all night.
“You knew that it was going to be that kind of game where there was some good back-and-forth,” McVay said. “You needed to be able to know that points were going to be really important for us, and our guys delivered in a big way.”
Just wait. By the time this season is done, McVay’s guys will have delivered a trophy representing something much bigger.
It rhymes with Strombardi.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes will be out for the rest of the season as he suffered a torn ACL on Sunday in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, according to multiple reports.
Mahomes’ knee buckled while he was scrambling and as he was getting hit by Chargers defensive end Da’Shawn Hand. He was helped off the field and he limped to the locker room. An MRI reportedly confirmed the extent of the damage.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes grabs his knee after being injured during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
The quarterback wrote a message to fans as word of his injury trickled out.
“Don’t know why this had to happen,” Mahomes wrote on X. “And not going to lie (it) hurts. But all we can do now is Trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you Chiefs kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I Will be back stronger than ever.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid offered a gloomy outlook for Mahomes as he spoke to reporters following the loss.
PHILIP RIVERS THROWS FIRST TOUCHDOWN PASS SINCE 2020 SEASON
Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Odafe Oweh (98) sacks Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 14, 2025. (Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images)
“… It didn’t look good,” Reid said when asked whether he knew if Mahomes’ injury was serious. “I mean you guys saw it. We’ll just see where it goes.”
The loss to the Chargers also meant the Chiefs will not be making the postseason. Kansas City made it to the AFC Championship each season since 2018. They made it to the Super Bowl in each of the last three seasons, winning two titles in that span.
Mahomes will finish the season with 3,398 passing yards and 22 touchdown passes.
Bundle FOX One and FOX Nation to stream the entire FOX Nation library, plus live FOX News, Sports, and Entertainment at our lowest price of the year. The offer ends on Jan. 4, 2026. (Fox One; Fox Nation)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Kansas City is 6-8 on the year.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Video: Rob Reiner and His Wife Are Found Dead in Their Los Angeles Home
Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Stance on Epstein Testimony Dec. 10
All about character: Jane Austen fans on their favorites
Kindle app now answers questions about the book you’re reading
US veteran rescues ‘most wanted woman in Western Hemisphere’ from Venezuela in secret operation
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Video: Rob Reiner and His Wife Are Found Dead in Their Los Angeles Home
Biden officials go silent when asked about Afghan refugee program after guardsmen shooting
South Korea indicts ex-leader Yoon over power plot provoking North
BBC Verify: Videos show impact of mass drone attacks launched by Ukraine and Russia
Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Stance on Epstein Testimony Nov. 3
-
Alaska1 week agoHowling Mat-Su winds leave thousands without power
-
Texas1 week agoTexas Tech football vs BYU live updates, start time, TV channel for Big 12 title
-
Washington6 days agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa1 week agoMatt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire
-
Miami, FL1 week agoUrban Meyer, Brady Quinn get in heated exchange during Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami CFP discussion
-
Iowa2 days agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Cleveland, OH1 week agoMan shot, killed at downtown Cleveland nightclub: EMS
-
World1 week ago
Chiefs’ offensive line woes deepen as Wanya Morris exits with knee injury against Texans
